In France, every worker is a union worker due to the laws currently on the books.. The burden it places on employers is such that productivity is severely affected, causing output to suffer. When unions drive the train, a business owner loses a significant amount of freedom to run his/her business. Not only that, but it is a huge factor that severely discourages the creation of new jobs.
The easy-to-fire law, which would apply only to newly hired employees, would be a closely watched experiment for Europe. It might help answer the question of whether making it easier to get rid of employees - as is the case in Britain, Denmark and the United States - actually encourages companies to hire more people in the first place.
Would you want to hire more people, if it was going to be hard to get rid of those workers that don't work out?
Firing someone in France today is, as in many other European countries, a difficult, lengthy, multistep process. Employers' associations have complained for years about the bureaucracy involved in firing or laying off employees. Workers, on the other hand, treasure the security that the system provides.
Sure they do. It is only human nature to want to do as little work as possible, for as much money as possible. When a good worker sees that no matter how hard he/she works and he/she gets the same amount of money as the one that does little, the good worker eventually slacks off.
But as we read further, there are critics of this proposal:
Yann Duchesne, managing director in Paris of the private equity firm Doughty Hanson, and author of "France S.A." - which translates as France Inc. - said the new law was "cosmetic."
"My guess is that this will have a positive psychological impact on some people," Duchesne said. "But it will only have short-term impact."
Only time will tell. But I tend to agree with Duchesne. It looks to be treating an arterial bleed, with a bandaid. According to the report, the new law would only apply to companies with fewer than 20 employees, which is only a third of the French workforce. But at least, it is a start.
3 comments:
What is really scary to me is how many people here quote figures from the German and French Economies to trump up the charges of "Greedy American CEOs".
France doesnt like us, because for all the yelling for it, we will not adopt the socialistic style they have, and therefor wont suffer like they have.
"But at least, it is a start." And a start is better than nothing.
Gindy,
"Forced" is the key word in your comment. You know well and good that many French are seething that our system (and many others') work better than theirs.
Socialism does not work, in any society. Some can pretend it works longer than others. But sooner or later, the experiments fail.
G,
You don't hear as much of it coming out of either country these days. They have lost a lot of business to and from the U.S., of late. We are growing now and they are hurting more.
And they know it.
AOW,
It's better than a step backward.
No matter what happens, major economic reforms must come slowly in any society; so as not to throw the markets into disequalibrium, too quickly.
Not only must rules and regulations change, the people's thinking must change. And, by moving it in the right direction, slowly, it gives them more time to absorb it. (And more confidence to guide it.)
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